Thursday, July 25, 2013

COMIC-CON 2013: WEDNESDAY PART TWO

﻿What Has Gone Before: I’ve been writing about Comic-Con 2013, thehappiest place on Earth.

Preview Night at Comic-Con was all about my figuring out the lay ofthe land. Barb and Eddie walked to the convention center with mewhile Giselle and Kelly headed for the hotel pools. It was greatfun watching Barb and Eddie’s eyes grow wide with amazement as theygot their first looks at the event.

I hadn’t been to Comic-Con in a decade, but it was huge back then.It was much bigger now, but not so much bigger that I had troublenavigating the place. The convention is laid out very well. Youcan avoid the areas in which you have no interest and, by using thelobbies, get where you want to go easily and where I wanted to gowas, of course, where the comics people were.

The first thing I did was go to the Guest Relations Team booth tolet them know I was at the convention. I would return two or threetimes each day to thank them for all they did for me and my familyduring the convention. I’m still not going to discuss the amazingperks I got as a special guest, but I literally could not thank thestaff and volunteers enough. I scored quite a few cool points with my family because of the Comic-Con crew.

As the convention progressed, I would make it a point to thank the hired security people as well. I know some attendees get annoyedwith them, but I thought they did an incredible job of maintainingsecurity and did it in a helpful and polite manner. Dealing with150,000 people even in a facility as big as the convention centeris a hard job. I hope my words of appreciation for their work madeup for any unpleasantness from others.

When I write about my career in comics, I remind my readers that weare all the heroes of our own stories. I try to be as accurate ashumanly possible, but I am not immune from that reality. However,when I tell you about my doing nice things for people at Comic-Con,it’s not so much boasting as sharing my journey with you.

I have been angry - with cause - for too much of my life. I don’twant to be that angry guy. I want to feel good about myself and Iwant others to feel good about themselves. When I thanked anybodyfor their good work, it was absolutely sincere. Most people at theComic-Con weren’t going to get the applause I would get during theevent. As much as possible, I wanted to share that with others. They should be the heroes of their stories, too.

Whenever somebody wanted me to sign something during Comic-Con, Ifound a wall to lean against while I signed it. Whenever somebodyhad questions about my career or comics in general, I sat down tochat with them. Whenever I could give someone some encouragementor even just a smile, I did it. The smiling came easy. Indeed, Idon’t think I stopped smiling the entire convention.

I made a conscious decision when I accepted Comic-Con’s invitationto make the most of this opportunity. My family has suffered withme through so many bad times that I wanted to show them the greatparts of my comics world. I set out to have the best convention ofmy life and I achieved that goal.

But I digress...

After taking in the enormity of the convention, the first specificthing I noticed was the huge promotional bags being worn like backpacks by attendees...and that they came with capes. Our wonderfulguest relations friends got these bags for us and, while I doubtI’ll ever wear mine, it’s a very nice reminder of how big Comic-Conis and how much stuff you can accumulate while you’re there.

The first cosplayer I saw was Sailor Jupiter from the Sailor Moonanime and manga. She wasn’t a teenager, but she wore the uniformwell. Throughout the convention, I would see many fabulous and notso fabulous costumes...and loved them all. This is Comic-Con andif you want to dress as a character, even if your body shape mightnot be consistent with that character, more power to you. You’rehaving a good time and you’re not hurting any one and this is yourconvention as much as anyone’s.

The first old friend I met was David Campiti, who I have known fordecades and worked with occasionally. He’s been representing somegreat artists in recent years and is involved in the start-up of anew company. I never got to visit his booth and learn more aboutthis venture, but I know he reads this bloggy thing. Hey, David,when you get a chance, fill me in on the details.

I did a quick walk around as much of the convention as I could andthen retreated back to the hotel. Though my feet were fine, I wasstill having that burning sensation in my left thigh. I knew thatI had to get off my feet and soon.

Before I left the convention, I stopped by Randy Reynaldo’s booth.Randy is the writer/artist/publisher of Rob Hanes Adventures, oneof my favorite independent comics. His title hero is a modern-daysoldier of fortune and private investigator. His stories and artevoke the classic adventure strips of Milton Caniff. I love thiscomic book a lot and was thrilled to get the new issue from Randy.Look for a review after I wrap up my however-many-blogs-as-it-takes Comic-Con report.

From Preview Night, the Isabella Gang went to dinner at the hotel’sMarina Kitchen. We had a terrific dinner and compared notes on ourfirst impressions of Comic-Con.

Barb said the convention was much bigger than the Cleveland AutoShow, which she’d wrongly imagined was a match for Comic-Con. Shewas excited by the convention and already making plans to attend afew panels besides the ones on which I would be appearing.

Eddie said he was geeking out big time over what he’d already seenand what he hoped to see in the days to come. Before we left forSan Diego, he had prepared and printed out a long list of panels hewatched to attend. I told him and the rest of our merry band notto feel the least bit guilty if they went to other panels insteadof mine. After all, they can listen to me anytime.

Kelly and Giselle hadn’t spent much time at the convention yet. Ithink they were preparing themselves mentally for what was clearlythe biggest thing either of them had ever been through. They wentback to the pools after dinner.

Barb joined them and then called our room telling me I should comedown and soak my feet in the pool hot tub. Much to my delight andsurprise, after fifteen minutes of this, all the pain disappearedfrom my legs and feet. I was ready to face the first full day ofComic-Con.

Normally that would my cue to end today’s bloggy thing and requestyou return tomorrow for more Comic-Con stuff. But, this being asmuch a personal journal as a convention report, there’s somethingelse I want to write about before closing.

While waiting for our table at the Marina Kitchen, I saw an old anddear friend. We greeted each other cordially, chatted for a bit,and then he went to his table. Later, Giselle looked him up on theInternet and was impressed by his credentials.

That’s when Tiger Wife Barb explained to the kids that this old anddear friend of mine had not always treated me right when he was ina position of power. In fact, his failure to do the right thing byme had cost me dearly in many ways.

The kids were amazed that I had been glad to see this man and thatI had greeted him with friendship. I explained to them that he andI went back a long time, that he had done me many kindnesses beforeour relationship got complicated and that, since he was no longerin a position to help or hurt me, I wasn’t going to let all the badstuff outweigh the good stuff he’d had over the years. I may justbe projecting what I wanted their reaction to be - we are, as I’vesaid many times, all the heroes of our own stories - but I suspectthey were impressed with my attitude.

I’m a forgiving man, though it may not always seem that way when Iwrite about the bad stuff in the comics field. Of late, as much asI can, I try to let go of old angers.

If people who have wronged me in the past make the slightest effortto make amends for those wrongs, I’m agreeable. Sometimes I don’teven need them to do that. When you have as wonderful a life as Ido, you can and should be generous. That’s the kind of guy I wantto be. That’s the goal I work towards every day.

There are people whose political views make me want to vomit, butI try to get pass that as long as they don’t throw those obnoxiousviews in my face or post them on my Facebook page. There are folkswho have behaved in incredibly insulting and rude manner towards meor people I care about. If...they...just...stop...that...crap, Ithink I can be cordial to them. If they don’t, I’m happy to ignorethem if they ignore me. It’s a big comics world and there’s roomenough for all of us.

Self-reflection. I didn’t expect to be going there when I startedwriting this extended Comic-Con report. Blogging is the damn freemarket of the psyche.

3 comments:

You don't know me from Adam, but your work in comics has often delighted me and made my life more enjoyable. So, thanks for that.

I'm a regular reader of your blog and just wanted to tell you that I'm happy for you that you are working every day to be a better, more appreciative, and less angry guy. As part of my Buddhist practice, I work at the same kinds of self-improvement (though being Buddhist isn't a requirement to do so) so, I know it isn't easy. But the rewards are terrific!

I've been a fan of Randy's ROB HANES ADVENTURES for years. I have a copy of every issue, plus TPBs of earlier material. He is the one creator whose table I make sure I visit every year that I attend SDCC. I know he was excited to tell me that he had been recently interviewed for WIRED magazine, so folks should keep an eye out for that. Randy's one of the nicest guys I know and deserves more recognition for his book.

We've all had folks who have wronged us in the past and while I have little to do with them now (being a few thousand miles away) I have tried to put past hurts behind me. I'm in such a better place now that it's hard to recall those bitter times. You're a good person and deserve the rewards that life has handed you.